El Salvador and Guatemala closer to customs union

In a meeting celebrated in San Salvador, the highest rank officials of both countries made progress in bilateral issues, toward the establishment of a customs union.

The President of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, paid an official visit to his Salvadoran counterpart, President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, last Thursday February 5, during which they agreed in achieving the free transit of people and goods between both countries through the establishment of a customs union.

The President of Guatemala said the decision is something that will remain "not just in the history of El Salvador but of the whole Central America", and estimated that the agreement will allow to increase both countries' Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as well as the GDP of neighboring Honduras, by at least an annual 1%.

In later statements to press, Sanchez Ceren considered that his country and Guatemala are "sister nations" which have "worked together through a long history", and that the relation between them is "not just of friendship, but also economic". In this regard, he informed that during 2014, El Salvador made exports to the neighboring country for a total of $700 million dollars, while it imported from it a total of $1 billion dollars.

To make progress towards the union, the presidents agreed to reinforce the security and improve the current border infrastructure. In that direction, El Salvador committed to building the international bridges Manuel Jose Arce y Anguiatu, and Guatemala to build the bridge El Jobo, at the border between Chinamas and Valle Nuevo.

Sanchez Ceren also indicated that there will be a plan to regularize the immigrants in both nations, as he considered that if "the border will be opened [...] there can't be undocumented Salvadorans in Guatemala nor undocumented Guatemalans in El Salvador."

Meanwhile, the Guatemalan president highlighted that the possibility of a customs union is something that had been talking about for "many years" and which, although experiencing several progresses and setbacks in the past, this time the project "will work", because there is a big will for it "to be a reality as soon as possible". Likewise, he said the decision is something that will remain "not just in the history of El Salvador but of the whole Central America", and estimated that the agreement will allow to increase both countries' Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as well as the GDP of neighboring Honduras, by at least an annual 1%.

The Manquehue Institute for Strategic Studies is a civic organization that pursues both the development of strategic views on main topics related to Latin American countries aimed at the local people, and projecting a faithful image of this region to the world.